Non-slip tread.



A. G. UPTEGRAPP.

NON-SLIP TRBAD.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. s, 1909.

Patented July 29, 1913.

R 0 T N E V N WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANoGRAPH Col. wAsrnNG'roN. D. c.

ALEXANDER Gr. UPTEGRAFF, OF LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS.

NON-SLIP TREAD.

Locatie.

Original application led March 12, 1909, Serial N o. 482,898.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 1913.

Divided and this application iled August 3,

1909. Serial N0. 511,073.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER G. Urru- GRArr, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Lenox, in the county of Berkshire and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments inNonSlip Trea'ds, of `which the following is a specification.

My present invention concerns tread members adapted to be appliedbeneath the foot to prevent slipping. They are adapted for use inconnection with any foot provided with a relatively firm or solidportion adapted to engage the ground, whether artificially provided, asin the case of the ordinary boot or shoe on the human foot, or naturallyprovided, as in the case of hoofed animals, with or without the ordi`nary protecting shoe, of which the horseshoe is a well-known type.

The tread members herein shown consti tute part of my prior Patent No.1,046,509, of which this application is a division. The tread disclosedherein is of the flexible or yielding type, and is particularly adaptedfor use in connection with any securing means encircling or engaging thefoot or hoof, particularly the securing means set forth in the patentsof George N. Kinnell, Patent Nos. 1,010,380 and 1,010,386, or thevarious modifications thereof shown in my said prior Patent No.1,046,509. The in* vention set forth and claimed herein is a yieldingtread, wherein the structure is suf* liciently rigid to servesatisfactorily the function of calks to prevent slipping, supported in asufliciently movable, flexible, or yielding manner, and yet not composedof links or articulations after the manner of the flexible `tread setforth in said Patent No. 1,010,380.

The members or strands comprising my tread have the flexibility andtensile strength necessary for such devices when used as tension membersexposed to violent stresses, as in the case of an overshoe for horses,by reason of the use of fine quality steel wire, as, for instance, pianowire. As set forth in my prior patent Patent No. 1,046,509, such wiremay be used as a plurality of parallel lengths without any protection;or solid bodies, such as rings or beads of various shapes, may be strungthereon; or much heavier, stiffer wire may be used, the metal being bentupon itself after the manner of a spring, so as to afford sufficientelasticity to permit of a desired flexibility of the strandnotwithstanding the relatively great stiness of the material from whichit is constructed.

My present application concerns the latter invention, and I will nowproceed to describe my specific embodiment thereof, in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in whichy Figures 1 and 2 are bottom planviews of a hoof having an ordinary horse shoe applied thereto andshowing a non-slip tread composed of coiled tread strands associatedwith a central link.

In said figures, I have shown strand members consisting of spring steel,heavy and rigid enough to serve as satisfactory calks, the materialbeing coiled or bent upon it self so that the adjacent portions thereofare held in operative relation in a sufficiently movable, fiexible oryielding manner.

I may use metal which would be too stiff, if used in a short straightlength, but when arranged in flat coils, constitutes a satisfactoryflexible tread member adapted to yield sufficiently to prevent localizedbreaking stresses or direct transmission of stresses to the securingmeans on the sides of the hoof.

In Fig. 2, the strands consist of a flat tened helical spring 73, which,if desired, may be stayed against stretching by ceiling it about alongitudinally extending axial portion 74. In the latter' case, theportion 74 may be a simple length of piano wire of small diameter, orboth portions of the strand 73, 74 may be formed from a single length ofmaterial bent in the form shown. It will be noted that this form ofstrand might be formed by taking an old fashioned helical d oor spring,drawing the temper, flattening it, and retempering.

In Fig. l, the coils of material forming a tread strand are interlinked,as at S3, so as to form a plurality of thicknesses of material crossingeach other at an angle, ,and thus affording good calk surfaces, while atthe same time the construction is stayed against longitudinal.stretching and lateral distortion by the direct interlinkage of adjacentcoils.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the strands are shown as comprising two similar' sidestrands and a toe strand, though it will be obvious that heavy springWire disposed in intertwined shoe, and means. for securing the membersfour or live strands may be used. Vhere three strands are used, atriangular link 85 may be used, as shown in Fig. 1, or the base of thetriangle may be carried towardY the y point of the frog, as indicated at86, Fig. 2.

While I have herein fully shown and described, and have pointed out inthe appended claims certain novel features of con-- struction,arrangement, and operation which.

characterize my invention, it Will be understood by those skil-led inlthe art that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the forms,proportions, sizes, and details of the device and of its operation, maybe made Without departing from my invention.

I claim:

l. A non-slip: appliance for horses hoo-iis comprising spring 'membersextending transversely across the tread of the hoof,l a link to whichthe members are' secured, and mean-s for securing the members and thelink in place on a hoof.

2. A non-slip appliance for horses hoofs consisting of tread memberscomprising flattened coils and extending transversely across the treadof the horseshoe, a link to which said members are secured, locatedbelow the hoof and within the arch of the vrality together and means forsecuring the assemblage in place on a hoof.

5. A non-shp appliance for horses hoofs comprising a plurality of shorttread memb-ers consisting of heavy spring metal disposed in intertwinedflattened coils and a linking member spanning the arch of the fslioe andsecuring said spring metal:` members together.

6. A non-slip appliance for horses hoofs comprising a plurality of shorttread members consisting of spring metal disposed in interengaging loopsand a linking member i spanning the arch of the shoe and securing saidspring metal members together.

7. A non-slip appli-ancefor. horses hoofs compri-sing' aplurality ofshort tread members consisting of spring metal disposed i-n superposedlengths crossing each other at an. angle anda linking member spanning YtheI arch of the shoe and securing said spring 65 metal memberstogether.

8. A non-slip appliance for horses hoois comprising a pluralityy ofshort tread members consisting of spring metal in the :t'orm ofinterlooped crossing Wires and a linking member spanning the arch of theshoe and securing sai-d spring metal. members tegether.

9. A non-slip appliance for horses hoofs comprising a plurality of shorttread members consisting ot spring metal inthe form of wire flexed andarranged'vvith portions crossing at an angle and a linking memberspan-ning the arch of the shoe and securing said spring metal memberstogether.

Signed at Lenox, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts,this thirtieth day of July, A. D. 1909.

ALEXANDER G. UPTEGRAFF.

YVitnesses GEO. VESTINGHOUSE, Jr., JAMEs- H. SHALLEY.

Copies of this patent may Vbe obtained. for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

